Swaying to the Music
by GraphicArtist13
Summary: Spending time with Ami and Ami's mother might be exactly what Makoto needs. Plz R&R and hope you like it. :)


Swaying to the Music

It was a pretty normal day in Juuban. Everyone was attending to their normal live, except one. Makoto Kino stood in the middle of her apartment, wondering what she should do next. She had watered her plants twice, cooked her lunch, made cookies, done her homework, and finished reading her book for class. She was literally, bored out of her mind. Looking around her small apartment, she sat on her couch and grabbed the phone off of the receiver. She dialed Ami's number, mostly out of habit.

She waited as the phone rang.

_'Moshi moshi? Mizuno residence, this is Saeko speaking.'_

_Ami's mother...which probably means that they would be spending time with each other today of all days. _"Ah...hello Mizuno-san. This is Makoto Kino."

Makoto heard a brief sigh of what seemed relief from the older woman then heard,_ 'How are you Makoto-san?'_

"I was just calling to see if Ami was free or wanted any company today. Seeing as your home, I guess she will spend time with you today."

_'Well...Ami is asleep at the moment. I turned off her normal alarm, that way she could get some extra rest. Why not come over? We could have a girls day today once she wakes up.'_

"A-are you sure? I wouldn't want to impose or anything."

_'Nonsense! You wouldn't be doing any such thing. Besides, last time I checked, I could practically burn water. It would be nice to have a chef over every once in a while.'_

"Well...alright. Um...I'll come over in about...let's say an hour. Is that okay?"

_'That sounds perfect. We will see you in a little while.'_

Makoto said her good-byes then hung up. She looked at the clock. 1:30 pm. She had time to pick out some recipes and get ready. She walked into her kitchen then stopped at a drawer, diagonal from the refridgerator. Taking a deep breath, she pulled open the drawer to see a thick notebook, filled with many recipes. With shaky hands, she removed it carefully from the drawer and set it down on her clean countertop. Shakily, she opened the front cover and read the writing on the first page aloud, "Property of...K-Kanna...Ann...Zurano-Kino." Her eyes moved down the page, and she saw where she had scribbled, 'And Mako-chan.' She placed her hand on the front page of the book, "I miss you mama...I wish you could have been here to see me now. I hope you would be proud of me." For the next hour, she began going down memory lane, remembering all the recipes her mother had prepared, before that fateful plane crash. She slowly closed the book then looked up at the clock to see the time. 2:15 pm. She quickly got ready then gently packed her mother's recipe book into her bag, making her way out the door and towards Ami's house. Locking the door, she got in the elevator then made her way all the way down to the ground floor, then walked out of the building altogether.

Soon, Makoto found herself at Ami's door. She knocked four times, rang the doorbell once, then knocked once more. Ami and her mother knew that as Makoto's signature knock. The door soon opened to show Ami smiling. Makoto nearly melted seeing her smile, however, she knew the reason for Ami's smile.

_~Flashback~_

_Makoto was walking through the library, actually looking for a cook book with certain recipes in it that she wanted to try. Going passed the non-fiction section, she spotted Ami standing in the communication section. Walking over behind her, she looked at the book Ami was reading. She saw a series of dots, spaces and dashes. "Ami."_

_The blue-haired girl looked at her, surprised to see her there, "Oh...um...I'm sorry. I was just reading some of the Morse code that was in these books. I am just so fascinated at how Morse code was used to send messages to try to divert many dangerous accidents from occurring."_

_"Morse code?"_

_"It is a __method of transmitting text information as a series of on-off tones, lights, or clicks that can be directly understood by a skilled listener or observer without special equipment. The International Morse Code encodes the ISO basic Latin alphabet, some extra Latin letters, the Arabic numerals and a small set of punctuation and procedural signals as standardized sequences of short and long-" she stopped seeing Makoto's blank stare and giggled. "It is a series of beeps and occasional clicks that many used to form sentences. The sentences were sent from one place to another."_

_Makoto smiled sheepishly, "Oh...hey! You wanna try out an experiment with me?" Ami gave her a strange look. "Hey I love science. I just hate math and P.E."_

_Ami raised an eyebrow, intrigued, "What kind of experiment?"_

_"To see if we could recognize who is at the door, by the way they knock...but...they have to knock using Morse code."_

_Ami's face lit up with a smile as she nodded her head, "Alright. What will be the tale-tell knock?"_

_"Okay. For my knock...I will use the initials of my name for you to recognize mine."_

_"I think I will do that as well. It would be easier."_

_Makoto looked at the symbols to figure out how she would use her initials. "Okay. I will knock on the door...three times...pause before knocking again...ring the bell...then knock once more for mine."_

_Ami also looked at the book, "Very well...then I will...ring the bell and knock three times. We'll see how this goes."_

_"That we will," Makoto said, smiling._

_~End Flashback_

Ami smiled then opened the door fully, "Mako-chan...right on time" She stepped to the side to let the girl enter.

As Makoto walked inside, she saw Ami's mother sitting in the living room reading a book, glasses perched on the bridge of her nose. Tilting her head, she smiled then shook her head, "Wow...now I know who Ami looks more like now."

Saeko looked up from her book and smiled, "Makoto-san."

Makoto bowed to Ami's mother and smiled, "Mizuno-san, how are you doing today?"

"Fairly well. Though, I have to be honest, when you called earlier, I was thinking about what I would prepare for lunch. Hopefully I'm not asking too much by asking you to help?"

The tall girl smiled then shook her head, "Not at all. I love to cook. I actually brought over a cook book with a lot of my family recipes in it."

Saeko's eyebrows raised, "Really now? Well how about we look and see what you have up your sleeves Makoto-san."

Makoto placed the recipe book and opened it to the first page then quickly turned another page, hoping the two Mizunos didn't see that. But...of course...her hopes were shot down when Saeko said, "Wait, go one page backward. What did that say?" Unable to say no, she turned the page back over to see the neat hand-writing. "Kanna Ann Zurano-Kino...why does that name sound so familiar? I have heard that name before." Saeko stood up, walked over to her filing cabinet, and looked through her files. Finding the correct folder, the elder Mizuno read the information, "Kanna Ann Zurano-Kino. Female, age 30. Tall build, slender. Brown hair and blue eyes. Family beneficiary: Sosuke Kino. Date of death: December 5, 1985. Cause of death: Broken neck and blood-forced trauma" She peeked up at Makoto to see her clenching her fists and her knuckles turning white. _She looks as if she is trying not to cry...but why? _

"Read the other document inside the folder," Makoto said, not looking up.

Flipping that document over, she saw another set of information," Sosuke Hareen Kino. Male, age 32. Tall build, muscular. Black hair and green eyes. Family beneficiary: Kanna Ann Zurano-Kino. Date of death: December 5, 1985. Cause of death: Broken neck and blood-forced trauma." She turned the page to read off a will. "If anything should happen to Kanna and/or Sosuke, everything is to be paid off with the fortune left behind and entitled to their only daughter..." Her eyes widened and she placed a hand over her mouth seeing the name, "Makoto Ann Kino...born December 5, 1980...brown hair...and green eyes." She looked up at Makoto to see her shaking. She walked over to her and she wrapped her arms around her in a hug, "I'm so sorry Makoto...I had no idea."

Makoto finally broke down in tears and cried her eyes out. Ami had joined her mother and hugged Makoto while she cried. The sound of her cries broke Ami's heart to pieces as she imagined how much Makoto had to lock inside of her while she was forced to grow up and act adult much quicker than normal.

After a good while of crying, Makoto finally wiped her tears off her face then cleared her throat, "I'm so sorry...I didn't mean to cry all over you guys."

Saeko gave Makoto a firm squeeze on her shoulders, "Nonsense, after all this time you deserved to get all of that off of your chest. I just can't believe you were that young. Do you mind me asking what happened?"

Makoto shook her head then looked at her hands, "My dad had called me early that morning and wished me a happy birthday. Mom had taken the phone from him and said the same thing. When dad took the phone back, he told me that the business trip was over and that they would be home in time to have my birthday party after school. I was so excited to get to see them. They were gone only a couple of days but the company they worked for said that they had to go unless they wanted to be fired. Anyway, when I got off the phone I packed my backpack and Shino's mom took us to school."

"Shino?" Saeko asked curiously.

Makoto smiled, "Shinozaki Kenjo, he's my best friend. We grew up together since we were babies and we were practically inseperable." She held her hands together, "He helped me cope all these years and he calls me everday when he gets out of school to check up on me and see what all I am up to. He's like the brother I never had."

Saeko nodded her head understanding.

Makoto looked at the elder Mizuno and continued her story, "Anyway, school went on as it normally did and Shino's mom picked us up from school. She took us to hers and her husband's workplace, because, since we were good kids, she knew we wouldn't cause trouble. When we walked in, everyone had yelled, 'Surprise! Happy Birthday Mako and Shino!' We saw gifts stacked in two piles and we were just ecstatic to see everyone there. Shino's mom's phone rang, and she answered it. Her face went from a bright smile to almost complete horror in just a matter of seconds...she looked at Shino's dad...then looked at me. She hung up the phone then kneeled in front of me, then told me, 'Honey...your parents aren't going to make it home to you.' I was too young to know what she meant. I'm pretty sure that I had told her that it was okay if they couldn't come to the party tonight. She put her hands on my shoulders...then told me...'I-I'm afraid that you won't get to see them again.'"

Saeko put her hand over her mouth, trying to hold back her own tears. She remembered tending to the dying couple.

_~Flashback~ _

_Saeko had done everything in she knew to do to try reviving the couple, but all attempts failed. Just as she was signing the death certificates, she saw two adults and two children walk in. The little boy was trying to hold back the little girl, but she broke free from him and ran to see the two in the beds. She saw the small child shake her head with tears running down her face, "Mama...papa..." Saeko then realized that she was their daughter and that she had just lost both of her parents at the same time._

_The small child walked up to her father and held his hand to her face, "Papa...please...wake up. Wake up..." but the man did not respond. The girl went over to her mother and took hold of her hand._

_Saeko didn't have the heart to tell this small, fragile child that her parents were gone. She couldn't bare to look into the child's big green eyes and see her whole world shatter around her. She could only watch as the girl frantically tried to wake her mother. Saeko was honestly shocked when she saw the woman's hand cup the small girl's cheek and eyes open to look at her. She wore a weak, gentle smile, "Ma...ko...we...love you...sweet...heart. We are...so proud...of you. Never...forget...us...okay? P-promise...me."_

_The small child nodded, tears falling from her eyes, "I promise...mama."_

_The woman's eyes began to flutter closed, "That's...my girl...Mama...loves you...Mako...chan." Her eyes finally closed and her hand fell from the child's face as she drifted into an eternal slumber._

_Saeko couldn't hear anything more than the agonizing screams and cries as the small girl watched her parents die._

_~End Flashback~_

Saeko hugged Makoto tightly and silently sobbed on the girl's shoulder, "I am so sorry Makoto...I wish I could have saved them. There was nothing I could do...I tried everything. I remember that...Ami had walked in the room hearing the screams and cries. She walked over and-"

"Patted me on the head...and told me everything would be alright." She looked at Ami, "That was you?"

Ami nodded, "If you remember, I told you that I hope to be friends with you someday and that if you needed a friend, I would always be there for you," Ami smiled as she wiped tears from her eyes, "I just never expected us to meet under our current circumstances."

Saeko held both of them and smiled, "You know what? How about we watch some movies? We don't have to do anything too extreme."

Makoto looked at her then smiled, "Thank you. That sounds like a wonderful idea."

Ami stood up to go to the movie shelf then picked out a couple of movies. Makoto and Saeko did the same and so they sat down and began watching them.

* * *

Saeko opened her eyes to see the lights off in her house and the sun setting outside the windows. Yawning, she turned to look at the two teens only to smile warmly at the scene in front of her:

Makoto was lying on her side, her long arms wrapped securely around Ami while the bluenette slept with her head on the taller girl's chest. The two looked so peaceful.

Smiling, she quietly made her way towards the two sleeping girls. She brushed a few strands of hair from her daughter's face and smiled warmly seeing Ami snuggle closer to Makoto and mumble something into her chest. Saeko looked at Makoto then placed her hand on the tall girl's head then rubbed her head gently. She whispered softly, "You have been through so much. I'm glad to know that you grew up to be an independent woman. I hope you know...you will always have a home here Makoto." She kissed the tall girl's forehead then watched as a small smile formed on her sleeping face. _I'm glad to know that it is Makoto whom Ami has fascinated herself with. Knowing what I know now...I have a feeling that she has feelings for my little girl as well...I guess we will have to see._ Kaya made her way to her room to call it a night, exhausted from all that had happened that day.

* * *

Makoto began to stir in her sleep then attempted to get up, but was stopped by a weight on her chest. Opening her eyes, she understood why. Ami was literally laying on her, with her head on Makoto's chest. Makoto smiled then repositioned the sleeping girl. After getting her to sit on her lap, Makoto stood up with one arm around Ami's back and the other in the bend of her legs. Makoto silently padded up the stairs and into Ami's bedroom. The tall girl placed the bluenette in her bed then covered her up. She stood up then looked at the time. _1:20 am. Well...no way I'm going home at this ungodly hour. I'll just grab a shower and get in bed. I wonder if I still have a pair of sleep clothes that I left over here._ The tall girl wandered over to the dresser then pulled out her tank top and shorts that she had left over. _There we go. It won't take me long now._

Makoto placed a towel on the toilet then stripped herself of her clothes. Stepping into the shower, she turned the water on and set it to the right temperature. She pulled her hair out of her usual ponytail and let the water run over her hair and body. Makoto looked down at her arms then sighed, seeing many scars of what seemed like repeated abuse. She clenched her hands then closed her eyes and leaned her head back, letting the water flow down her scarred body. No one would really notice scars on her unless they looked close enough. She seemed in very deep thought, that is, until she felt arms wrap around her waist from behind. Makoto jumped slightly, then calmed down feeling a head lean against her back. _Ami...she must have noticed I was gone and came searching for me. _Makoto smiled just a bit, liking the fact that someone wanted to be around her and came looking for her when she was gone. She placed her arms on top of Ami's then gently caressed the girl's wrists with her thumbs, "Ami...aren't you supposed to be in bed?"

"You were gone when I woke up."

Makoto smiled, "I'm just showering and doing a lot of thinking."

Ami bit her lip, then turned Makoto around to face her then wrapped her arms around her neck. Seeing Makoto's reaction, she leaned her forehead against Makoto's, "Mako-chan, what's wrong?"

"I was thinking about when I was put into foster care. The foster parents I had...they all abused me...and I couldn't figure out why. I just wanted a family...and it seemed that everyone else just wanted to hurt me. What did I do to deserve that?" she asked, looking into Ami's dark blue eyes.

Ami stared up into those pools of emerald green and saw one thing that she never saw on her strong friend's face...fear. She was afraid that she was doing something wrong and being punished for it. Ami slid her hands down Makoto's arms until she reached her hands. Taking the girl's hands in hers, she looked at Makoto, "You did absolutely nothing to deserve that. You deserve so much better. However, they don't know what a gem they had. I am proud to be able to call myself your friend...and I hope to always be there for you...no matter what."

Makoto looked into Ami's eyes then smiled at her, "Thank you Ami. I didn't realize how much I needed to hear that." She was about to say something else, but was forced to pause as a huge yawn fought its way out. She giggled, "How about we finish then get to bed? You are soaked."

After a lot of giggling and talking, the girls finally found themselves in bed. Makoto sat up on the right side and Ami on the left.

Ami bit her lip then looked at Makoto, "Um...Mako-chan?"

The tall girl looked at her, "Hmm?"

"Could...could you close your eyes for a second?"

Makoto cocked an eyebrow at her, "Okay...but could I ask why?"

"I just want to try something."

Not questioning further, Makoto closed her eyes.

Ami took a deep breath then slowly leaned closer to the tall girl's face.

Makoto sat still, wondering what Ami was doing. All thoughts left her mind and her eyes snapped open when she felt soft lips on hers. She tensed at first, then eventually relaxed and kissed her back.

* * *

Saeko had planned on telling the girls that she had to leave from being called in. However, when she looked in the living room, the girls were no longer on the couch. She walked back down the hall and saw Ami's door cracked a bit. She walked toward the door and decided against knocking in case they were still asleep. She peeked into the room to see the two girls kissing. It wasn't long until she saw one of Ami's hands wandering up Makoto's arm then come to rest on the brunette's tanned cheek. She slowly closed the door leaving it cracked then turned around and walked down the hallway. She took out a notepad then scribbled down a note to her daughter and Makoto. After putting the note on the fridge, she grabbed her keys then quietly left the house.

While driving down the road, on her way to the hospital, Saeko couldn't help the smile that came over her face.


End file.
